Additional funding opportunities can be found using the Cornell fellowships database, the social sciences award listing, and the Michigan State University funding guide.
Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowships
Eligibility: Supports students in the humanities and related social sciences in the last year of Ph.D. dissertation writing. Students who have been enrolled in a degree program longer than 6 years are ineligible.
Deadline: Nov. 9 (Online Fellowship Application system opens mid-July)
NSF Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants
Eligibility: The student must be enrolled at a U.S. academic institution, but need not be a U.S. citizen. The proposal must be submitted by the dissertation advisor(s) on behalf of the graduate student who is at the point of initiating or already conducting dissertation research.
Deadline: Bi-annual, check individual program for dates.
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
Applicants must have completed no more than 12 months of full-time graduate study. The program provides three years of support to graduate students who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in fields within NSF’s mission. Deadline: Mid-November
NSF Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) Postdoctoral Research Fellowships Program
The SBE Postdoctoral Research Fellowships has two tracks: (i) Broadening Participation (SPRF-BP), and (ii) Interdisciplinary Research in Behavioral and Social Sciences (SPRF-IBSS). Deadline: Oct. 29
Social Science Research Council International Dissertation Fellowship
Eligibility: The program is open to doctoral students in the humanities and social sciences who are conducting research abroad. The IDRF program expects fellows to remain at their research site(s) for the full nine- to twelve-month funding period.
Deadline: Check website
Topic specific opportunities for graduate students
Anthropology
Wenner-Gren Dissertation Fieldwork grants
Eligibility: Ph.D. candidates whose research demonstrates a clear link to anthropological theory and debates, and promises to make a solid contribution to advancing these ideas.
Deadlines: May 1 and Nov. 1
Crime and Justice
ASA/BJS Small Grants Research Program for Analysis of Crime and Justice Data This program is designed to encourage the creative and appropriate use of these data to inform substantive and/or methodological issues. Other than these criteria, there are no restrictions placed on the topic of a submission. Dissertation research may qualify for these funds and young investigators are encouraged to apply.
NIJ Graduate Research Fellowship Program
Eligibility: Ph.D. candidates conducting research on crime, violence, and other criminal justice-related topics.
Deadlines: The GRF solicitation is posted once a year usually in the fall or early winter time. Potential applicants should register for updates on the grants.gov website to be notified when the solicitation is released.
Education
American Educational Research Association
Eligibility: Applications are encouraged from a variety of disciplines, such as but not limited to, education, sociology, economics, psychology, demography, statistics, and psychometrics. The dissertation should contribute to educational research and use large-scale, national and international data sets supported by NCES, NSF, and other federal data bases.
Deadline: September 1
The Jack Kent Cooke Dissertation Fellowship
Eligibility: Ph.D. candidates completing dissertations that further the understanding of the educational pathways and experiences of high-achieving, low-income students.
Deadline: Feb. 4
National Academy of Education/Spencer Dissertation Fellowship
Eligibility: Ph.D. candidates with a demonstrated record of research experience in education. The Fellowships support individuals whose dissertations show potential for bringing fresh and constructive perspectives to the history, theory, or practice of formal or informal education anywhere in the world.
Deadline: Oct. 3
Environment and Natural Resources
Joseph L. Fisher Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship
Eligibility: The fellowship is intended to be the principal source of support for graduate students in the final year of their dissertation research. The dissertation research should be on issues related to the environment, natural resources, or energy. Fellowship candidates must have completed the preliminary examinations for their doctorate no later than February 1 prior to the application deadline.
Deadline: Feb. 18
Udall Foundation Dissertation Fellowship
Eligibility: The Foundation encourages applications from Ph.D. candidates in all fields of study whose dissertation topic has significant relevance to national environmental policy and/or environmental conflict resolution, and who are approaching their final year of writing the dissertation
Deadline: Feb. 24
EPA Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Fellowships for Graduate Environmental Study
Eligibility: Master’s and doctoral level students in environmental fields of study.
Master’s level students may receive support for a maximum of two years. Doctoral students may be supported for a maximum of three years, usable over a period of five years. The fellowship program provides up to $42,000 per year of support per fellowship.
Deadline: The fellowship program is not necessarily annual. In general, solicitations open late July-early Sept. and close in November or December. Check website for announcements
Ethics/Religion
Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship
Eligibility: The Fellowship supports the final year of work on dissertations dealing with ethical or religious values in fields across the humanities and social sciences.
Deadline: Nov. 15
Geography
Association of American Geographers Dissertation Grants
Eligibility: Ph.D. candidates in any geographic specialty who have been an AAG member for at least one year at the time the application is submitted. Grants are for up to $500.
Deadline: Dec. 31
Hazards, Risks, and Disasters
National PERISHIP Awards: Dissertation Fellowships in Hazards, Risk, and Disasters
Eligibility: Ph.D. candidates in any relevant field of the natural and physical sciences, social and behavioral sciences, specialties in engineering, or interdisciplinary programs such as environmental studies that focus on hazards, risk, and disasters.
Deadline: Feb. 1
International
The Inter-American Foundation Grassroots Development Fellowships
Eligibility: IAF Fellowships support dissertation research in Latin America and the Caribbean. Fellows must be U.S. citizens or citizens of the independent Latin American countries. Proficiency in the language(s) appropriate to the research proposal is required.
Deadline: Jan. 18
NSF East Asia & Pacific Summer Institutes
Eligibility: U.S. citizen or permanent resident enrolled in a research-oriented Master’s or Ph.D. degree program. The program funds research experiences in Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Singapore or Taiwan.
Deadline: Nov. 9, 2011 (Second Wednesday in November, Annually Thereafter)
Conflict/Peace/International Security
Jennings Randolph Peace Scholarship Dissertation Program
Eligibility: Ph.D. candidates working on topics relevant to international peace, conflict, and security studies.
Deadline: Jan. 6
Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation Dissertation Fellowships
Eligibility: Ph.D. candidates who have completed their research and have begun writing the dissertation. The Foundation funds research on violence and aggression in relation to areas such as social change, intergroup conflict, war, terrorism, crime, and family relationships.
Deadline: Feb. 1
Women
American Association of University Women Dissertation Fellowship
Eligibility: Women Ph.D. candidates in all fields of study. Scholars engaged in science, technology, engineering and math and also researching gender issues are especially encouraged to apply.
Deadline: Nov. 15
Woodrow Wilson Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship in Women’s Studies
Program suspended in 2011. Check website for updates.